


Broken Bridge

by Amanda_Yates



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Angst, Children, Divorce, F/M, M/M, Past Mpreg
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-20
Updated: 2014-09-21
Packaged: 2018-02-18 02:02:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2331110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amanda_Yates/pseuds/Amanda_Yates
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Summary: After being in a civil partnership with Merlin for two years Arthur decides to get a divorce as he believes he's in a failed relationship and has fallen out of love with Merlin, it's a long bumpy road ahead when he realizes he never got over Merlin and has to right the wrongs he'd done.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone, so I'm relatively new to Archives of Our Own...this is a bit of a sad fic as you can see but it will be endgame Arthur/Merlin. 
> 
> I've written about five chapters of this fic so far and I'll update entirely based on the good response I get back from you guys, so please do leave me some love ;) I know its bribery but hey what can I say? 
> 
> Also I would be grateful if you could check out my other stories as well, most especially REIGN ME IN, IF YOU CAN 
> 
> Thankyou!

Chapter - 1  
  
Merlin didn't say anything for a while as he sat on the plush sofa of their living room, he couldn't meet Arthur's eyes and couldn't decide if it was a good thing or a bad thing. On the one hand it meant Arthur couldn't see how this was tearing him apart but on the other it implied that he was a coward. Merlin honestly didn't think he'd never expected this coming but it still stunned him that Arthur would throw away their life together so easily. Idly he thought it was ironic that he was staring at a framed picture of them both kissing with the background of the London tower when they were at the culmination of their relationship. When they had entered their civil partnership Merlin had been over the moon with joy and they had been so happy to be able to love each other openly after years of hiding their relationship and then Alexis was born and Arthur began pulling away.  
  
Merlin cleared his throat awkwardly and then looked at Arthur for the first time since Arthur had announced that he was filing for the dissolution of their partnership and though he didn't want to admit it the stoic almost indifferent look Arthur gave him hurt him more than any of the angry words Arthur had hurled at him in the last year ever did. Seeing this made Merlin gain strength though and if Arthur felt nothing for him anymore and wanted their failed relationship to end then Merlin would handle this gracefully whether or not it was killing him inside. He schooled his expressions and said "Have you decided on a lawyer?"  
  
"Yes, Gwaine Dubois, now if you could sign these we could get on with it right away."  
  
Gwaine, Merlin wasn't surprised at Arthur's choice for a lawyer and Gwaine was one of the best in town and a privileged arsehole just like Arthur and they had been mates right from uni.  
  
"Shouldn't we be discussing custodial rights for Alexis?" asked Merlin and saw Arthur's expression change for just a second before the mask was on again and Merlin was too heartsick to have noted the change properly.  
  
"It's outlined in the papers if you want to read them but she can live with you."  
  
Now Merlin was angry, he could never understand why Arthur chose to distance himself from their child Alexis and as she grew up Merlin had to take care of everything from feeding to changing her while Arthur continuously made excuses to be out of their house or work late hours when Merlin knew he didn't have to.  
  
Merlin tried to keep the anger in check but his voice rose an octave as he said "You don't even want to take responsibility for your child? Your own blood and flesh? What has she ever done to you for you to alienate her like this?"  
  
Arthur looked startled at his outburst as if he expected absolute compliance before he said "I'll still have visitation rights and you're the one who is good at taking care of her, after all you are the one who wanted a child!"  
  
Merlin reeled back like he had been slapped, he knew the pregnancy was unexpected and that they didn't plan to have a child but he'd never thought Arthur truly didn't want children, he'd expected it to be some of the daddy issues Arthur had that was messing with his mind and keeping him from being attached to Alexis but he'd never considered that maybe Arthur never even wanted her in the first place, the god's knew he had tried talking to Arthur, but every time they ended up in a screaming match with Merlin in tears and Arthur slamming the door shut and leaving the house.  
  
Merlin stood up and blew out a breath as he said "I'll have to read them before I sign any of this and decide on a lawyer, I'll give these' he picked up the papers from the coffee table, 'back when I'm done reading them."  
  
Arthur stood up, graceful as always in his immaculately pressed Armani suit making him look the part of the cold aristocrat that Merlin knew him to be when he'd met him and said "Be fast about it, we'll discuss financial settlements when I'm home tonight."  
  
"No can do, I have plans for tonight" said Merlin before he walked away not giving Arthur a backward glance never noticing the frown marring Arthur's features as he wiped away tears and went to call Gwen.  
  
The café was well crowded and Merlin finally spotted Gwen and Lance after he looked about the place like an idiot for awhile, absently he wondered how Arthur managed to find the people he was looking for in a crowded room so easily and then thought it must be because he got to spend so much time at business meetings and fundraisers.  
  
He went to the private booth they had occupied before he sighed and Gwen immediately asked "Merlin, what's wrong?"  
  
Merlin looked up at them and tried to smile but it came out more as a grimace before he said "Arthur's filing for divorce."  
  
"WHAT?" asked Gwen and Lance in shock and Merlin turned away from them to look at nothing on the other side of the café when he felt Gwen's hand squeeze his and looked back up at them.  
  
"I shouldn't be surprised right? I knew this was coming…for a long time, Arthur doesn't love me anymore."  
  
Merlin felt the tears building up and before he knew it one traitorous tear slid down his cheek and then they kept coming and Merlin put his head in his hands and groaned, he didn't want to feel so wounded and he wished he could be like Arthur was in regards to their separation, cold and informal as if were Merlin were some disease he wished to be rid off as soon as possible.  
  
"That's not true Merlin! Arthur's never been as crazy about anyone as he is for you! I don't know why he's doing this but he'll come to his senses otherwise we'll talk it into him" said Gwen and Lance nodded while he smiled sadly at them both.  
  
"It's over Gwen, it's about time I stopped taking his shit and this is as good a time as any to end it all and find myself a new life, a chance to be happy."  
  
Now Gwen and Lance shared a dismayed look, it seemed Merlin too was stubborn to see this through and they all knew that Merlin was harder than Arthur to crack at times and Gwen didn't believe for a second that Arthur had stopped loving Merlin and he just needed a reminder of how much he loved Merlin and how stupid he was being by drawing up divorce papers. She had to call Morgana and ask her to give Arthur a well deserved tongue lashing for hurting Merlin, in fact she decided she had to be there for the ritual too and with that in mind she gave Merlin and sad smile and said "We'll be here for you no matter what"  
  
Merlin nodded giving her and Lance a grateful look, "I know"  
  
Morgana was suffice to say not pleased to be roused from her afternoon nap as she had been working non-stop to secure a deal for the Pendragon Corps with key companies all around the world, she was the head of the PR department while Arthur was the Managing Director and let it be said that Uther Pendragon was a hard man to please, and it was even worse for his children.  
  
"Yes, this is Morgana Pendragon and whoever this is you better have a good reason for calling me now!" Morgana barked into the phone while burying her head further down in the pillows.  
  
"Morgana, this is Gwen, did Arthur tell you he filed for divorce?"  
  
This got Morgana to scrunch her face up in confusion for a second before she sat up fully awake and alert now, "HE DID WHAT?"  
  
Morgana was stunned, shocked and she couldn't comprehend how Arthur would file for divorce with Merlin, they were meant to be together, Arthur was crazy about Merlin and had spent months chasing Merlin before Merlin finally caved and agreed to go on a date. Granted things weren't going so well now and Arthur had been working longer than usual but Morgana didn't think it was that bad, and what were they going to do about Alexis?  
  
"Yes, he filed for divorce but I don't think he's in his right mind, we have to talk to him, now before this completely breaks them apart."  
  
"Yes, yes, I still can't believe Arthur went and filed for divorce of all things! I'll be ready in about an hour, meet you at the lobby?"  
  
"Yeah, I'll be there."  
  
Arthur looked up from the stack of papers he was reviewing when he heard his door bang loudly open admitting his least favorite person in the world, his evil sister Morgana and her best friend Guinevere, his ex-girlfriend and he knew what this was about before they'd even gotten started and he was well and truly prepared for it.  
  
"What were you thinking Arthur? Filing for divorce? Are you mad?" asked Morgana as she glared at him daring him to face her wrath.  
  
"I am in perfectly good mental health, thankyou Morgana and seeing as things between Merlin and me are a personal matter I don't see why you feel the need to butt in."  
  
"Oh God damn you and your silly stoicism, don't think I'm going to let you off the hook that easily, why did you file for divorce?"  
  
Arthur sighed and rubbed his hand across his temples and met Morgana's and Gwen's glare and realized he'd rather get this over with now instead of later, "Why do any couple divorce? Things aren't working out anymore and I don't feel the need to have this farce of a relationship when we can barely be civil to each other!"  
  
Morgana was going to go into one of her screeching tirades and both Arthur and Gwen could see it so Gwen stepped forward and said "So you're having problems, who doesn't? You should try to work it out instead of just breaking it off like he doesn't mean anything to you!"  
  
Morgana was pacing to control her temper and then she asked "And what about your little girl? Do you really want to put her through that?"  
  
"I've given Merlin full custodial rights and we'll set up a trust fund for her when we're done with the divorce proceedings."  
  
Morgana slammed the table hard with her fists before she said "You're refusing to take responsibility for your daughter? What you think just because Merlin carried her it means you don't have to do anything? You think you can just throw your money at her and she'll be satisfied with not having another parent?"  
  
Arthur gritted his teeth and his voice rose to meet Morgana's as he said "I'm not abandoning her, Merlin is good at taking care of her than I am, and he's the one who has more time to be looking after squalling babies!"  
  
"You mean you wouldn't know the first thing about taking care of her because you've never even tried, heaven forbid Arthur Pendragon being menial enough to take care of his own daughter!"  
  
Arthur just pointed a finger at her and said "You're acting up over nothing Morgana! I am divorcing Merlin because what we're having now is a failed relationship neither of us wants to be in, and I gave parental responsibility to Merlin because he's the one equipped for taking care of Alexis."  
  
"Neither of you want to be in this relationship eh? So did you ask Merlin's opinion before filing for divorce?" asked Gwen a tad sarcastically as she was feeling no affection whatsoever for Arthur now.  
  
Arthur flailed for a moment before he said "No but he wasn't exactly complaining when I informed him."  
  
Gwen sighed and recognized this for a lost cause if Arthur couldn't even see how much he'd hurt Merlin with this brash action and said "Maybe you're right, Merlin doesn't deserve to be unhappy and if you can't make him happy then he deserves to find someone else who will."  
  
Gwen then said "I'm done talking here, but Arthur you love Merlin' and when Arthur opened his mouth to protest that he most certainly did not Gwen raised her hand willing him to back down and Arthur did though he had no idea why, Gwen always intimidated him more than Morgana ever could 'you may think you don't but Merlin is not the sort of person whom you can love and then forget and when you realize that you're going to have to realize it's on you, this relationship failing is on you because you pulled away, you filed for the divorce and you pushed him away and you've as good as lost him forever."  
  
Gwen then left the office leaving Arthur and Morgana in stunned silence as Arthur collected his thoughts and sighed trying and failing not to be disturbed about Gwen's parting words.  
  
Morgana sat down as well and asked softly "Are you really going to do this?"  
  
Arthur took note of her mood and said "Yes Morgana, we can't go on like this."  
  
Morgana just looked up and snorted cynically, "I guess I should have seen this coming but I really thought he was it for you, you know. You were never that serious about anyone else and for a time it was so amusing to see you all pathetic and moping when he wouldn't go out on a date with you because you were a prat to him."  
  
Arthur smiled thinking of those times when he'd think of any excuse to get out of his office and go to that restaurant Merlin worked part time at before he became a world renowned writer, his father was so displeased with him for shirking his duties and he'd been called on multiple occasions to his office for him to be yelled at by Uther nothing of which seemed to have an effect on him whatsoever. "Uther was so furious with me for being a what he called "irresponsible lad chasing after some boy like a lovesick fool instead of doing my duty to the company."  
  
"Uther would be furious about this too you know, especially if he doesn't get to meet his darling grand- daughter any time he wished to see her."  
  
Arthur would forever be shocked by how much affection Uther showered Alexis with whenever he visited her which was often. Uther adored Alexis and spoiled her rotten when he took her to his mandatory weekly dinners at Les Deux Salons or any other restaurant in London. Secretly Arthur had to admit he was a bit jealous because he never had that kind of attention from his father while he was growing up and Alexis had managed to capture so much of the stoic man's attention in just eight months time.  
  
Morgana was saying something but Arthur was distracted as she snapped her fingers in front of his face, "Uther would insist on you taking custodial rights, you know that right? He thinks Merlin is too middle class to rear any heirs of the Pendragons."  
  
"It's none of Uther's business; I'll make sure he won't interfere."  
  
"You do know I still think you're being idiotic and running away from your problems instead of facing up to it, right?"  
  
"I always knew you had high opinions of me Morgana" quipped Arthur refusing to be fazed by the decision he'd made.  
  
Morgana snorted before she said "I know atleast one person who'd be happy to know you're breaking up with Merlin."  
  
"Hmmm" Arthur hummed disinterestedly as he read through the papers on his desk again.  
  
"Mordred of course, he's been seething ever since you stole Merlin from him or that's what he claims anyway."  
  
Arthur looked up from his paperwork and chewed on his lower lip before saying "If that was your subtle tactic to check if I would be jealous I have to say you're conniving skills are dropping lower on the scale and Merlin would never want to consider that creepy obsessive lunatic for a friend let alone a boyfriend."  
  
Morgana shrugged "And yet Merlin still dated Mordred before."  
  
Arthur smirked wryly, "I know what you're doing Morgana, you're testing the waters, seeing if I still care, well I don't."  
  
"So you say, but if I believed you I wouldn't be your evil sister raised from hell to torment you."  
  
"I don't care if you don't believe me' said Arthur stretching with his hands folded behind his head in the uncomfortable office chair, 'it still doesn't change the fact that Merlin and I are getting divorced."  
  
Morgana in an uncharacteristic display of affection came over to the other side where Arthur was sitting and took his shoulders in a firm grip, she then looked into his eyes and said "Arthur, I know you can be an arrogant prat at times but don't rush something like this, your brash attitude might just make you loose the most important people in your life."  
  
Arthur swallowed before he turned away and Morgana gave up on him and walked out of the office leaving Arthur to contemplate in silence.


	2. Chapter - 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmmm, wow...okay I really don't want to explain the mechanics of how mpreg happens alright, mostly because I have no clue how to so you'll have to put up with my 'ignorance' to explain the 'biological' side of things. Also I'll change the tag to implied past mpreg, and change the status to incomplete, that was my bad.
> 
> And if you want to pass reading the story you could do it without posting a completely unnecessary comment about it on here. I really don't mind about whether someone wants or doesn't want to read my work but then reading it and saying 'I shall pass' is a bit childish and uncalled for. If you want to resent me for 'wanting to be fed with reviews' as you say it then keep your resentment to yourself and ignore me, you can however refrain from posting silly comments about it and pissing me off. 
> 
> On to chapter 2.... oh and also this chapter has male lactation, do not ask me how...I've marked it with dotted lines so you can completely avoid reading it if it weirds you out.

**Chapter- 2**

Arthur sat in the bar stool already nursing his first pint when Gwaine came in and found him slapping Arthur on the back and saying "Hey mate, long time no see!"  
  
Arthur turned around and met Gwaine's blinding smile and smirked as he said "And whose fault is that?"  
  
Gwaine conceded and his smile didn't drop as he said "I'm a party boy and a divorce lawyer, most of the times I'm beat or drunk off my arse."  
  
"Same old Gwaine, drunkard and troublemaker!" hedged Arthur playfully and Gwaine threw his head back and laughed.  
  
"Hey, you love me anyway and you're one to talk, looks like you've been driving yourself over the till with work."  
  
Gwaine took a seat in the bar stool next to Arthur ordering a beer, Arthur sighed and said "Yeah, you know how Uther is, and this new deal we're wanting to get done requires more work."  
  
"Hmm' mused Gwaine silently and then put his hand over Arthur's shoulders as he asked 'so how's married life treating you these days? Do you still get as much as you got when the kid wasn't there?"  
  
Arthur rolled his eyes and then turned away for awhile, he'd wanted to slowly ease into the matter but as usual Gwaine had disrupted his plans and Gwaine sensing the mood frowned while he downed his drink and asked "So, I take it it's not going well and that's why you've called me."  
  
Arthur turned back and looked at Gwaine with surprise clear in his eyes when Gwaine just shrugged and said "I am a drunkard and a divorce lawyer mate, people call me when they want to get absolutely smashed after a break up or because they want to break up."  
  
"And it doesn't bother you at all?" asked Arthur, "helping to break up families?"  
  
Gwaine threw Arthur a shrewd look before saying "It's my job Arthur and sometimes being away from each other is good for everyone involved, anyway what happened between you and your writer boy?"  
  
"He's not my writer boy, he's a comic artist and writer! And we just drifted apart but I don't see how it's your business!"  
  
"Comic eh? Anything I might have heard of? And mate if you want me to be your divorce lawyer then I have to know the details, grounds for divorce and all that!"  
  
"I've drawn up the papers with my family lawyer, you can take a look at them later."  
  
"Alright, are you sure you want to go through with this?" asked Gwaine gulping down his beer as he spoke.  
  
"Do you ask all your clients that question?" asked Arthur incredulously.  
  
Gwaine tilted his head and conceded "Fair point!"  
  
"So what comic does he write?"  
  
"Riley Hunt? Dark Legions Series? Ring a bell?"  
  
Gwaine spit his beer out and sputtered for a second while Arthur looked on in confusion "You mean he's Emerson Cloud the author of Dark Legions? God, that series is awesome!"  
  
Arthur smiled despite himself and said "Yeah, I've been told!"  
  
Gwaine wasn't over his excitement though as he said "You have to let me meet him, wait his name is not really cloud is it?"  
  
"No, that's his alias and you can meet him if you come to one of Morgana's party's. I'm not sure he'd like you though, what with you being my divorce lawyer and all that."  
  
Gwaine frowned for a minute before he said "Maybe I have to reconsider being your lawyer then!"  
  
"Oi, you are my mate you know!"  
  
"I was jesting, so let me see these papers this weekend."  
  
"Yeah, I'll have them brought to you at your office."  
  
Gwaine got up to leave and before he went on his away he said "And Arthur, make sure you really want this."  
  
Arthur glared but Gwaine just gave him a serious look before he darted out of the pub and Arthur was left alone and he decided to go home and face the music.  
  
When Arthur opened the door to their house all the lights were off and he checked the time in his mobile to find it was 1:00 am and then he quietly closed the door and dragged himself up the stairs into the bedroom where he found an empty bed where Merlin used to be until yesterday and he leaned his head back against the door and closed his eyes, his head pounding because of the alcohol and the ungodly work hours he put in these days and decided he was too tired to contemplate this now and pulled of his shoes before throwing himself face first on the bed, not bothering with changing.  
  
He woke up in the morning with a pounding headache and went into his bathroom to shower and downed two aspirin before he felt human again and lied down on the bed for a while longer because blessedly it was Sunday and that meant he didn't have to work, well not too much anyway but on the other hand it meant he had to talk to Merlin and he wasn't ready to face him yet and decided to sleep in.  
  
When he did wake up again he checked the time to be 9 am and got out of bed as his stomach growled in want of food and slowly opened the door to his room and smelled bacon and peered down to see Merlin and Alexis in the kitchen, Alexis in her high chair and Merlin sitting on a stool trying to feed Alexis some cereal and failing miserably. Alexis kept turning her head this way or that, her blond tatch of hair shining in the sunlight that filtered in through the window and Arthur saw Merlin putting the bowl down and holding his chin in his hand.  
  
"You know I know my cooking skills are not up to par with whichever posh place your grandpa decides to take you but don't you dare make a habit of this, you need to eat normal baby food once in a while too because well, you are a baby!"  
  
Merlin lectured as if Alexis could understand anything and when Alexis turned her head away to examine something on the wall Merlin sighed and said "Fine fine, I'll make you you're strawberry milkshake you stubborn thing! You must have inherited that from the prat!"  
  
Arthur smiled despite himself and he begged to differ as if his daughter was stubborn it meant she definitely inherited that trait from Merlin. Merlin took the bowl of cereal away and placed in the counter top while he prepared the milk shake fetching out the ice cream and the milk and putting them in a mixer as Arthur made his way down and said "Morning Merlin!"  
  
Merlin turned from where he was and said "Hey" in a voice with a mix of surprise and weariness and Arthur decided to make some coffee as Alexis started to babble something nonsensical in the background.  
  
Just when Arthur finished preparing his coffee and sat down, Merlin was done with the milk shake and he filled it up in a glass cup and put a straw in it and brought it over to Alexis who started to make loud excited noises which made Arthur look up and he saw her extending her chubby small hands towards the cup reaching for it and clenching and unclenching her little fists and Merlin brought it close to her but not enough for her to grab before he said "I will let you have that if you have the cereal first!"  
  
Merlin put the milk shake on the counter where Alexis looked at it forlornly before he brought the cereal in front of Alexis again who started to cry first in small whimpers and then loud and earnest and Arthur wasn't sure whether to shut his ears as his head was killing him or whether to shove Merlin out of the way and give her the damn milk shake so she'd he can have some peace and quiet and he restrained himself because he knew Merlin was going to cave any moment and give her what she wanted anyway because he was pathetic like that but what surprised him was that Merlin held his stand and shoved the spoon into her mouth gently with the cereal in it and Alexis looked at him in wide eyed betrayal and the next minute Merlin's face which was close to Alexis' mouth was spattered with cereal and baby saliva and Arthur burst out laughing while Merlin threw his hands up in the air and lowered the milk shake closer to her instead.  
  
Arthur kept laughing when he had a clear view of Merlin's face and Merlin scowled at him before demanding "And what do you find so funny?" in a dangerous voice and Arthur quietened holding his stomach and looking at Alexis who was sipping her milk shake enthusiastically now.  
  
"Nothing" he said before he grabbed his remaining coffee and decided to change and head out for breakfast.  
  
"Arthur' called Merlin and Arthur turned to look at him when Merlin said 'Uther will be coming later this afternoon to take Alexis out and he asked you to come too."  
  
Arthur nodded and asked "When will he be here?"  
  
Merlin refrained from rolling his eyes, as Uther was always here at the same time every Sunday since Alexis was five months old and despite three more months passing Arthur didn't seem to be aware of it, "1 o clock" Merlin missed the old times when conversations between them weren't just plain facts.  
  
"Are you coming with?" asked Arthur dreading being left alone with Alexis, his father never invited him or Merlin when he went out with Alexis and this meant he must have heard about the divorce papers from Morgana. And the only other time he'd had to stay with Alexis alone was when she was about two months old and Merlin had to go out to fetch groceries and at that time she had blessedly slept through it all and then they always had a nanny to look after her when neither of them could be around.  
  
"No, I have some work at the studio today and Sunday is a holiday for Elena." At Arthur's confused expression Merlin explained "Alexis' nanny"  
  
Merlin could see that Arthur was dreading being alone with Alexis but Merlin decided it was about time he brought the problem to the front door and let Arthur confront it.  
  
Arthur wanted to object and tell Merlin he knew nothing about taking care of Alexis but Morgana's words 'You think you can just throw your money at her and she'll be satisfied with not having another parent?' kept ringing in his mind and he decided that a baby couldn't be that much trouble after all.  
  
Besides he was so not in the mood for a screaming match today and with that thought he went away and when he came back from work Merlin was in the hall with Alexis propped up on the sofa playing with some lego blocks as Merlin wrestled her feet into shoes and socks to match her red frilly frock.  
  
"She has to dress up as well?" asked Arthur carefully knowing his father's insistence on making good impressions but surprised that this extended even to an eight month old baby. Although he had to admit the red frock looked beautiful on Alexis.  
  
"No, but she has about hundred of these frocks all of which are a present from your father and I dress her up in it once a week to be polite though she's going to ruin it with dropping food on it anyway."  
  
Merlin then pointed to a bag the size of a lap top bag on the other sofa and said "That is her bag take it with you, I've already changed her and fed her so she shouldn't be much of a problem, don't let her eat anything other than soup or semi solid food, no mushrooms, no sea food, nothing hard because her teeth aren't fully developed yet. Uther knows already so I shouldn't bother but you need to know anyway, so I guess I'll be going then" Merlin looked at Alexis happily sucking on her thumb and moving lego blocks and prayed that he wasn't making the wrong choice before he slipped out of the door into the afternoon and bustling streets making himself walk further, even if Arthur couldn't handle it Uther was more than responsible in taking care of his grand-daughter and Merlin kept walking after shaking his head wondering how normal today seemed to be after Arthur had filed for divorce and broke his heart just yesterday.  
  
For one Arthur never joined them for breakfast or any meal ever since Alexis was born and they had almost managed to be civil to each other and Arthur had even laughed at one point. Maybe it was the knowledge that they no longer had to fight to keep their relationship together that had lifted off the restraints Arthur had placed around himself and Alexis and though Merlin was sad that their relationship had to come to this he was also just a tiny bit happy to see Arthur taking a small amount of interest in Alexis now.  
  
Arthur didn't know what to with himself as there was a half an hour to kill before Uther should be here and he sat on the opposite sofa staring at Alexis for a while before he decided to switch on the tv and flipped through channels idly, he rolled his eyes as nothing good was on and was about to switch it off when he saw Alexis trying to get down and out of the sofa by pushing herself forward and reaching out with her hands. Arthur picked her up just in time before she could take a fall and placed her on the ground wondering if she could crawl yet and as she just sat there looking at the tv and swaying back and forth ever once in a while Arthur decided that she shouldn't be able to yet. Alexis got bored of the tv after a while and laid back down on the floor.  
  
"Don't…don't lie on the floor!" berated Arthur not that Alexis could understand, she didn't even seem to be bothered by his voice which made Arthur sigh, "You're grandfather will never let me hear the end of it if he found you sleeping on the floor in my presence."  
  
Arthur once again abandoned his place on the sofa as he picked her up making her look up at him curiously and she grabbed his nose with her hands and let out a small baby giggle, he moved her away from his body and dumped her on the sofa again sitting on the side farthest away from her.  
  
He heard the door bell ring and let out a breath of relief and opened the door for Uther to enter, Uther gave him a significant look meaning that they were going to have a serious talk before he found his way towards his grand- daughter who was once again trying to get down the sofa, Uther picked her up gently and asked "And how is the Pendragon Princess doing today?"  
  
Alexis looked thrilled to be picked up and tucked her head into the crook of Uther's neck, "She seems exhausted today"  
  
Arthur shrugged and asked "Can we go now?"  
  
Uther gave him a considering look before saying "Yes, there's something we need to talk about."  
  
"Father' tried Arthur but Uther held his hand up and Arthur said 'fine, but whatever you say it's not going to change my mind, I am going through with the divorce whether you approve or not."  
  
They were finally sat down at the Le Gavroche and ordered their respective meals and a soup for Alexis who seemed to be happy looking out at the various decorations of the opulent hotel.  
  
"Do you always take her to these posh restaurants? There's nothing entertaining for a child here." Arthur stated as he noted the bored expression on his daughters face.  
  
Uther grunted before he said "No, usually I take her to Hyde Park or something such, though she's too young to enjoy anything properly yet."  
  
Arthur conceded his point and asked "Then why are we here?"  
  
Uther took a sip of his wine before saying "Because I wanted to talk to you. Why have you decided to divorce Merlin?"  
  
Arthur sighed wondering how many more people he had to explain things to, "Things aren't working out anymore and all we do is fight all the time so I see no point in being in the relationship."  
  
Uther frowned and tilted his head towards Alexis who was closing her eyes and putting her head on the table top of the high chair, "What about Alexis? Haven't you thought of how this might affect her in the future?"  
  
"Father, I am sure Merlin is capable enough to take care of her!"  
  
Uther's eyes stormed with ill concealed fury when he said "You're going to let him raise her? She's an heir to the Pendragons and you're going to let that struggling simple minded fool raise her?"  
  
Arthur was angry now too and with a cutting look he said "Need I remind you that that struggling simple minded fool was the one who carried and gave birth to her?"  
  
"And Merlin is not a fool, he'd raise her well I'm sure and I'll still have visitation rights."  
  
Uther narrowed his eyes and asked "Why are you still so defensive of him if you don't care about him anymore?"  
  
"Oh I don't know, because you've never given him credit for all the things he does and just because we're getting divorced doesn't mean I don't care enough to let you trash him as you see fit. He's Alexis' other father, you can't expect her to not be disappointed if you continued to treat Merlin this way!"  
  
Uther waved his hand away, "I am perfectly polite to him."  
  
"You do realize that giving him parental responsibility means he gets to decide everything about her life, yes? Where she goes to school, when she chooses to visit you, deciding her medical treatment, everything!"  
  
Arthur considered this for a moment before he wondered if he really wanted Merlin to be the one responsible for every decision about his daughters life and then nodded thoughtfully, "I'll ask Gwaine about if I can have more of a say in her life too, though I'm sure Merlin and I can work through it if we had a difference of opinion."  
  
Uther simply said "You can't seem to work through your differences now. And you are the one with more financial background and the ability to provide a better life for her, you should be the one to have parental rights."  
  
"That's different…" Arthur hedged and then their meal arrived and they ate in blessed but tense silence until Alexis got cranky and decided to start crying at which point Arthur offered "I'll take her out" cutting his meal short as he took her out into the clear summer air and she kept quiet and sagged onto his shoulders and just as Arthur was about to let out a relieved breath he felt something wet on his shoulders and realized it was Alexis chewing on his pricey Ralph Lauren black shirt and felt a mixture of disgust and amusement at how if it were someone else trying to chew on his shirt he might just wring their head. "I guess I have you to thank for howling at the right time and saving from even more conversation with your grand-father."  
  
Alexis was only quiet for a while though and when Uther came out she was all out screaming and Arthur had no idea whatsoever about what to do with her, Uther noticed as soon as he saw them and asked "What does she want?"  
  
"How should I know?" asked Arthur with a look that said 'do I look like I know what I'm doing here.'  
  
"She's your daughter!" exclaimed Uther and Arthur sputtered before he asked "I'm sure you were better than me at handling babies in your time than I am!" sarcastically.  
  
Uther looked taken aback by this but Alexis' crying grew louder and there were tears rolling down her cheeks and Arthur looked helpless and slightly scared and Uther decided to take pity and asked "Where is her bag Arthur? She probably needs water or needs to get changed."  
  
"Her bag! What bag?!"  
  
Uther gawked at him and as much as Arthur would have enjoyed seeing his father look dumbstruck he just then remembered the bag Merlin had asked him to take which was still in the house.  
  
"It's still in the house, let's get back!" said Arthur as Uther nodded and called the driver to come with the car to the entrance.  
  
Uther then nodded to the car and said "I have some work to get back to, you take her home."  
  
"But I have no idea of why she's crying! Do you think I should take her to a hospital or something?" asked Arthur gritting his teeth at being seen so out of his element in front of his father.  
  
Uther said "No, she probably needs changing, you would make a racket when you were young about that too, so go home and get to it." Uther left with an amused smile on his face, it wasn't everyday one saw the great Arthur Pendragon having a panic attack.  
  
"Alright, alright!" Arthur in his panic got into the car and only when they were halfway through their ride did he remember that he didn't exactly know how to change a baby's diaper and Alexis was screaming her throat raw that he earnestly started to worry now.  
  
He called Morgana first and all she said was, 'Honestly Arthur! You have an eight month old baby and you still don't know how to change her?'  
  
Then he called Gwen but she wouldn't pick up and finally he accepted defeat as he entered his house along with Alexis and called Merlin.  
  
"Merlin, it's Arthur, Alexis won't stop crying and I don't know what's wrong with her, dad said all I have to do is change her but I don't know how to change her or even if she needs changing or she's crying for something else, what should I do?"  
  
Merlin blinked for a minute on the other end before he said "Arthur, calm down, just get her out of the dress and remove her diapers, she should be fine. I'm on my way anyway and I'll be there in ten minutes tops."  
  
"Oh thank god, she's been crying for over an hour straight! Come soon!"  
  
Merlin's eyebrows drew together, this was the first sign that Arthur had shown about being concerned for Alexis and that was including the time when Alexis was sick with the flu when she was four months old and Merlin had to take her for multiple trips to the hospital while Arthur was being indifferent and downright ignorant of Alexis and Merlin. Absentmindedly Merlin wondered if he should have done this before already and made Arthur connect with Alexis but he was too heartsick and hurting at the time having felt lonely throughout his pregnancy and then after Alexis had been born.  
  
... ... ...  
  
When Merlin got in he heard Alexis' loud cries and immediately began searching the house calling out "Arthur, where are you?"  
  
"In here Merlin!" came Arthur's shout from where their bedroom was and Merlin opened the door and went inside to see Alexis sitting naked on the bed with a towel underneath her, and the baby bag opened and all of its contents strewn about the bed.  
  
Arthur looked terrified and Merlin lifted Alexis up from the bed and started rocking her back and forth but she didn't seem to stop crying although she was clutching on to Merlin tightly. Her sobs finally dissolved into hiccups and when Merlin held her in a horizontal position with both his arms supporting her head and body she lunged for Merlin's chest again and again and Arthur heard Merlin sigh and say "So that's what you want, you gave your daddy over there a bit of a fright lovely!"  
  
Arthur was now confused and asked "What? What does she want?"  
  
Merlin looked up and asked "Can you hold her for a sec?"  
  
Arthur nodded "Sure" although he wasn't sure what Merlin was getting at and as soon as she was out of Merlin's arms Alexis started wailing again and Arthur saw Merlin calmly but quickly removing his first three shirt buttons and Arthur understood.  
  
Merlin held out his arms for Alexis again and Arthur throat felt dry when he saw Merlin direct Alexis' mouth to his pink nipples and Alexis started to suck. Arthur turned away for a second before his eyes were back to staring and he noted that Merlin's chest was flat as always and yet it was different somehow, Merlin noticed Arthur staring and said "I'll take her to the nursery, she should be fine now."  
  
"If you knew she'd need this then why didn't you tell me before?" asked Arthur angry now that he had been made to look like a fool in front of his father when Merlin must have known all along that Alexis would need feeding.  
  
Merlin looked disbelievingly at Arthur before he said in an equally angry voice "I fed her just before I left, she usually just wants to be fed once a day since she got older but of course you wouldn't know that since you don't know anything about her anyway!"  
  
"Oh so I was supposed to somehow know what she wants when you're the one who is around her all the time, had a laugh of it did you? It must have been so funny for you to see me running out of my mind with worry when apparently all she needed was your breast!"  
  
"And whose mistake is that that I'm the one who is around her all the time? It's not like I'm stopping you from getting to know her! She's your daughter and you don't even know how to change her! And I do not have breasts!"  
  
Arthur scoffed giving Merlin's chest a look where Alexis was sleepily sucking still not at all worried about the two arguing adults in the room, "Beg to differ Merlin, and I'm not around because I have to work you idiot!"  
  
"Bullshit Arthur, I have work too and I find the time for her!"  
  
Arthur sneered and said "If you call drawing up little cartoons for meager money as a real job!"  
  
Merlin was enraged now and Arthur shut his mouth knowing he had insulted Merlin's work and crossed the line again and Merlin said "Fuck off Arthur!" and walked out to the nursery.  
  
"Really Merlin, that's the best you can do?"  
  
Merlin turned around and asked "Arthur, why are you doing this? It's not worry over Alexis, your picking a fight for the sake of picking a fight!"  
  
"I am not picking a fight; I'm merely saying that you're an ignorant idiot who forgot to mention something important to me and made me look like an absolute fool in front of my father!"  
  
Merlin placed Alexis who was fast asleep in her crib and stood up shaking his head disbelievingly, "Of course it's your father, it's always about your daddy issues with you isn't it?"  
  
Arthur was about to scream but Merlin forcefully directed him out of the nursery whispering "Shut up, you'll wake her up!"  
  
Arthur shrugged off Merlin's arms as soon as they were out and said "I expect those papers back tomorrow morning Merlin" and walked off.  
  
... ... ... ...  
  
Arthur noted Merlin didn't come back to the bedroom tonight either and tossed and turned in bed in a disturbed sleep waking up in the morning at 5 am and decided to trek through the house, he knew there were two guest bed rooms and Merlin must be in one of them and opened the first one to find it empty before he entered the next one and saw Merlin fast asleep with Alexis curled up close on top of him, both of them slumbering peacefully. Arthur asked himself honestly if he wanted to let them go, if he was alright with them leaving to find a new life away from him and remembered all the fights they had had, all the tension and the screaming and the times when neither Merlin nor Arthur could even look at each other and thought this was for the good, in the long run this separation would give them time to forget their brewing animosity and atleast allow them to act like civilized adults to each other. With his mind made up he left the house for an early jog.


End file.
